Clean up or shut up: dropping a litter is a crime

17/11/2010: Clean up or shut up: dropping a litter is a crime. Last Sunday I started my annual volunteer surf life saving patrol at Sydney's Freshwater Beach, which I've been doing for the last five years. I managed to burn the back of my legs, which wasn't so cool, but at least the sun came out after the storms and yes, the water is warming up. Roll on Christmas and lazy days at the beach. The sea and coastline is one of the main reasons I love living in Australia and my friends back in London still find it amusing I am a volunteer surf life saver. There are not many waves on the Thames.

The big disappointment was that the beach was dirtier than I have seen before. In between dealing with the public, we seemed to be picking up more old cans, paper and plastic wrap than ever before. The bins at the end of the day were overflowing and it struck me that this was a pretty poor state of affairs. The day was turning me into a litter saver, not a life saver! What is going on? I remember being told not to drop litter when I was about four years old, if not before.

Coupled with the launch of Clean Up Australia Day 2011 last week, it's made me take a better look around and take a dig into waste factoids. Each individual Australian generates more than two tonnes of waste per year, which equates to more than 40 million tonnes of waste generated annually. It's expected to double by 2020 and only 52 percent of waste is recycled. And landfill is fast running out, especially in NSW. So watch out neighbouring states, here we come.

Clean Up Australia Day is on March 6 next year and it is the 21st anniversary of Australia's largest community participation event. Over the last 20 years, an estimated 237,500 tonnes of waste has been removed through this great initiative. So look out for the yellow bags when over half-a-million registered volunteers will clean up more than 7000 Clean Up sites. Founder and chairman Ian Kiernan has urged all Australians to take part.

Registrations for Clean Up sites and volunteers are now open so individuals, businesses and schools at www.cleanup.org.au.

And what about business? Stats show more than 80 percent of employees want to see more recycling in the workplace but in reality only 50 percent of businesses are recycling glass, metals and plastics.

More than 16 million phones are sitting in drawers all over Australia with many users unaware they can be recycled. In 2006, 500,000 computers were recycled compared to 1.6 million thrown away. When electronic waste is sent to landfill, hazardous waste ends up in soil and water systems and therefore ends up in us, in our pets and our lifestyle, so this matters.

Back to my office, we are typical of the statistics. We've had screens and electronic waste waiting to be dumped and our paper and printing bills are mounting up to an unreasonable level. I have multiple old mobile phones that I should dispose of and yes, there are a few old electronics in storage.

We did a research exercise a few years ago, and tried a few things but lost interest. We are busy and it all seemed too hard. My digging around shows times may have moved on. Resource efficiency is a strategy businesses can implement to improve profits and sustainability efforts at the same time.

Here are some resources that can help:

• Launched by Planet Ark, BusinessRecycling.com.au is a free online directory to assist business owners in Australia manage waste by promoting cost saving and environmentally responsible alternatives. The website is supported by a free Hotline 1300 763 768 to direct you to recycling services in your area.
• My digging for more facts uncovered some champion recyclers in the form of Holroyd Council, state government programs, Commonwealth Bank, Hungry Jacks, Planet Ark and Clean Up Australia. Call your local council as a starting point. They often have good programs.
• Our local council on Sydney's north shore has also created a great initiative this year called Better Business Partnership — Success through Sustainability. Visit www.betterbusinesspartnership.com.au for more information.
  Good luck on your quest for a cleaner, greener business. Meanwhile, I'm breathing a future sustainability plan into my business this summer.

Click here to view Sharon’s blog at NineMSN.

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